POC Sports
Bone Arm Elbow Guard
Armor and Pads

Product Description

?Hit the trail? takes on a new meaning when you take an endo on a hard-charging downhill run -- protect your elbow and arm with the POC Bone Arm Protector. Three polypropylene segments backed with a ventilated comfort lining provide hard impact protection. The elbow area is further protected by flexible Visco-Elastic Polymer Dough (VPD), which stiffens on impact to provide superior shock absorption.

User Reviews

Strengths: holds tight on the arm. it will slide but holds well. you can avoid using the spandex sleeve and just use straps if you want to wear over a long sleeve shirt during colder weather.

Weaknesses: strap buckles are in a really inconvenient location. the end of the pad slides a bit and tends to interfere with your wrist. in hot weather this can be really annoying and can wear the skin a bit.

Bottom Line:

After reading the reviews on this site I was absolutely convinced these were the pads for me. They work well and hold pretty tight to the arm. They slide down the arm a bit, as all elbow pads do, but they don't seem to slide as much as other pads I've used. I don't think it was an intended design feature of the pad but you can bypass the arm sleeve and just use the straps for wearing outside clothes. It makes putting the pads on a lot easier in colder weather.
I do; however, have a few gripes with these pads. The adjustment buckles are right in the crease of the elbow. For me I have to run with the buckle left on the widest settings. Thankfully I don't need it too tight but if I did I'd be in trouble. They strap system works but adjusting without removing the pads is a bit of a hassle. They should have used velcro straps instead of a buckle system. The other issue I have with these pads is that when they do slide down the end of the pad is very rigid and rubs my wrist. In hot weather is wears pretty aggressively on my skin and become uncomfortable.
I don't think any pad is perfect and these seem to do the job pretty well.

I tried on every single elbow pad I could find. Maybe 10-12 different manufacturers. The only ones that came close to the POC was the Dainese. Of note, the 661 with 3DO seemed would be a good choice if you dont think you need forearm protection. The most important thing about Elbow and knee protection is that it DOES NOT MOVE AROUND. In this, the POC Elbow is successful. (not the knee, see my review). However, the tricep plate will catch on the elbow plate on extreme flexion. If you are XC or AM, this is no big deal, but landing from a jump or drop can cause an overlap, which is annoying. However, the plates DO slide past each other with the least friction of any of the elbows I tried (namely better than the Dainese). This method of using two sliding plates is much better than the cheapo 'lets stitch on two pieces of plastic to a piece of lycra' that 90% of the other companies settle for. I have crashed several times wearing these (Whistler, Keystone, and Winter Park) but I did have a fairly nasty local crash wear my forarm went directly into a large sharp rock. I would surely have fractured my Ulna withought these on. They fit tightly, but don't move around, which is more important.

Strengths: Unique design of the POC elbow guard always for freedom of movement and the pads stay in place(read this 3 times). Pads absorb impacts and serious hits very well.

Weaknesses: The pad is virtually perfect in performance, but since I typically ride in 90-100 degree weather, I would prefer the pads to be a bit cooler. Notice I didn't say, "price".

Bottom Line:

By far the best elbow pads I have worn. I have bursitis in one elbow and the pads handled some truly nasty direct hits on rock. I have muscular arms and I have never had an elbow pad stay in place for the duration of a ride but the POC elbow pads do stay in place. Finally, the pads are not the coolest pads I have worn, but they don't add heat, either. Highly recommended.